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Joint Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht calls for greater support for communities in commemorative plans

12 Noll 2019, 14:45

Joint Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht calls for greater support for communities in commemorative plans.

The Joint Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht met yesterday, December 11, in Committee Room 4, Leinster House to discuss Government Plans for Commemorative Events 2020-2023.

Representatives from the Expert Advisory Group on Centenary Commemorations, officials from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and representatives of Tipperary County Council presented before the Committee.

The Committee would like to express its gratitude to the witnesses for their constructive and valuable contribution to yesterday’s discussion and acknowledge their work to date.

The Committee agrees with the principle that it is crucial that commemorations are a mixture of state events and community-led, with Local Authority and Departmental support, as proved successful in the recent events commemorating 1916.

Committee Chair, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said: “It is the Committee’s view that the current proposed budgetary allocation of €10,000 per Local Authority is inadequate in matching the vision of the Local Authorities and what they wish to achieve. The Committee suggests strongly that a funding similar to that provided in 2016 be provided to each local authority for 2020 particularly taking into account the number of separate events that took place throughout the country in 1920.”

The Committee is also concerned that the full programme of events planned for 2020 is not yet available.

Deputy Ó Laoghaire added:“The Committee recommends that the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht agrees and publishes as soon as possible a full programme of events to take place in the years to come and, in particular, events to take place in 2020. Given we are now in December 2019 it is important this happens quickly.”

The Committee also urges the Department to ensure that major flagship events of 2020 are well supported by the State, and that the proposed allocated Local Authority funding is increased substantially.

For more information about the work of the Committee and to watch a video of yesterday’s meeting, see the webpage of the Joint Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

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